Stormfall High
by castlelover88
Summary: What would life be like if the Castle characters were to meet at high school? Rick Castle is the new boy and he soon meets Beckett, Lanie, Ryan and Esposito. Terrible at summaries. Caskett/Esplanie.
1. New Boy

**Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or any of the Castle characters ****L**

"Here we are," said Martha Rogers, smiling at her two children. "Stormfall town."

Her son, Richard, raised his eyebrows. "It's more like a village," he commented, surveying the sleepy suburban town. Whilst it was true that Stormfall was not large, it probably seemed a lot smaller to Rick as he had lived all his life in New York.

"Well, I like it!" argued his sister , Alexis, smiling around. "It's a proper little town."

"I never said I didn't like it, I just meant that it was small."

His sister rolled her eyes before grabbing his arm. "C'mon Rick, I wanna go look round the house."

"You do know that we've been round already, right?"

Alexis just grinned. "I'll race you upstairs!" She ran off before Rick could reply and he chased after her, laughing.

Katherine Beckett surveyed her high school with familiarity. Stormfall high was bustling with teenagers, dying to share their summer news.

"Kate!" called a voice from behind her. She spun around to see her best friend, Lanie, pushing her way through the throng of teens towards her.

"Hey Lanie," she grinned, hugging her friend.

"Oh my god, I've missed you Kate!" laughed Lanie.

Kate laughed. "You saw me yesterday Lanie. We had pizza, remember."

Lanie just grinned. "I've missed school you," she joked.

Kate raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, school me?" she asked.

"You know, serious, focused. Boring." Lanie teased.

Kate scowled, but not seriously. She knew that Lanie was only messing with her.

Lanie looked back over Kate's shoulder and let out a squeal.

"What?" asked Kate, excitedly. "Is it Josh?" Josh was the year above them and Kate (and the rest of the girls in the school) fancied him.

Kate spun around hopefully, only to sigh. Two of her best friends, Kevin Ryan and Javier Esposito, were heading towards them. Much to Kate's surprise, Lanie rushed up to Esposito and grabbed him in a hug, before standing up on tiptoes to kiss his lips. Kate caught Ryan's eye. He looked as puzzled as she did.

"Did you know about this?" she mouthed to him.

He shook his head and shrugged. "Weird!" he mouthed in reply.

"Tell me about it!"

As Lanie and Esposito broke apart Kate walked up and grabbed her best friend's arm.

"A word Lanie?" she asked, as she dragged her friend to a less crowded part of the playground.

"When were you planning on telling me that you and Esposito are going out?"

"We're not going out." Lanie replied.

"Oh, nice try. I just saw you two making lip action right in front of me. You are definitely going out!"

"Yeah, sure we kissed. But we haven't actually gone on a date or anything, so we're not really going out, just..."

"Making out?" supplied Kate helpfully. Lanie gave a sheepish smile.

"How long has this been going on for?"

"Um, the whole summer." Lanie bit her lip, looking guilty.

Kate gave a mock scowl. " What happened to _Best Friends!_?" she asked, vaguely annoyed that her BFF had not filled her in sooner. After all, it wasn't as though they hadn't seen one another. The entire holiday had been filled with sleepovers, parties and movie nights, but not once had Lanie so much as suggested that she was playing tonsil hockey with one of Kate's best friends (practically a brother, since Kate and Javi had known each other since they were babies and had lived right next door to one another for their entire lives).

Lanie blushed. "I wasn't sure if it was just a summer thing."

Kate rolled her eyes, but couldn't stay mad for long. After all, it was a new school year and a new adventure.

"Come on," she said "let's head back to the boys. I haven't even yelled at Javi yet. Boy is he getting an earful!" she grinned, showing her friend that she was only joking.

Lanie flung her arms around Kate. "I'm so glad that you're not mad! I felt so guilty about not telling you. No more secrets, I promise!"

With her arms still around Kate's neck, Lanie let out a sudden squeal. "OMG!"

Kate jumped. "Oww- eardrum!" she winced, rubbing said ear. Lanie, however, wasn't listening.

"Look over there. New boy! Looks like Josh has some competition for hottie of the school!"

Kate looked where she was pointing. Sure enough, there was a new boy. With dark blonde hair and dazzling blue eyes, she supposed he was handsome, in a rugged sort of way. She wrinkled her nose a little. "I still prefer Josh," she said.

Josh was tall, dark and handsome, with a cute laugh and aspirations to be a doctor. He was smart, sweet and, most importantly, modest- a trait that this new boy appeared to lack. In his short walk across the playground he had already flirted with half the cheer team, not that they were stopping him. In fact, Samantha, the most popular (and promiscuous) girl in the school, was practically wound around his leg. Even Sadie, the shyest on the team and usually unbelievably angelic and chaste, seemed drawn to him, giggling at whatever he had just said and tossing her blonde bob so that the sun glanced off the shimmering golden highlights that were clearly the result of a beautifully sunny summer and the new salon which had just opened. She turned to Lanie, a little disconcerted.

"When did Sadie get flirty?"

Lanie shrugged. "Beats me. As long as she leaves Javi alone, she can flirt with all the boys in the school."

Reaching the boys, they quizzed them about the new boy, figuring that one of them was sure to have heard something.

Kevin nodded. "He and his family just moved in near Jenny. Apparently his Mom is some Broadway star. Martha...Rogers?

Kate thought for a minute and her eyes widened. "_The_ Martha Rogers?"

The other three looked puzzled. "You've heard of her?"

Kate flushed slightly. "Some of her stuff is good," she said, shrugging nonchalantly.

Lanie raised her eyebrow, as if to comment on Beckett's apparent admiration, but was interrupted by the entrance of Josh.

"Hi," he said. "I've been looking for you Kate."

Beckett blushed slightly. "You have?"

"Yeah. I was just wondering if you were coming to watch the football tryouts tomorrow?"

Kate gave what she hoped was a casual shrug. "I guess. If nothing else comes up."

"See you there then?"

Kate nodded and once Josh was out of earshot, turned to her best friend. "Eeek!" she squealed. "He asked if I was going to the game!"

Lanie laughed. "He is sooo cute!" she exclaimed, hugging her friend excitedly. "Get in there Becks!"

Kate pretended to be affronted, swatting Lanie's arm, all the while singing inside. The boys were giving them both incredulous looks.

"What?" asked Kate, puzzled.

"Nothing," shrugged Esposito. "Just don't know what you see in him."

"Josh is gorgeous and really sweet," countered Beckett, scowling.

"Espo's right. The guy's a dirtbag. He can be such a jackass. Did you know that he two-timed Sadie Martin with Becca Jenkins?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "I bet that's just a rumour. I can't believe that you would listen to all that crap. He's such a nice guy!"

"Whatever," said Javier. "Just be careful. I'd hate for you to get hurt!"

Kate rolled her eyes. "I'm a big girl Javi! I can look after myself."

Esposito was about to respond when they were interrupted.

"Hey," said an unfamiliar voice. "Do you know where room 23B is. Apparently it's my homeroom."

Kate turned to meet dazzling blue eyes, the colour of a clear pond in summer. For a moment, she lost her concentration, before Lanie thankfully intervened.

"Sure. We're going there too. I'm Lanie Parish and this is Kate Beckett. These are Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan." She gestured at the two boys.

"Hi," he nodded, shaking their hands. "I'm Richard Castle. Everyone calls me Rick."

"So Rick," began Lanie, in her usual, no nonsense way. "What brings you to officially the most dull town in the Northern Hemisphere?"

"I got into some trouble at my old school and my Mom decided that we should move before the 'Big City' had any undesirable influences on me. Or, more importantly, my sister. I'm already beyond saving," he said, with a wicked grin that made his eyes light up mischievously. "Anyway, I don't know about dull. I'm already finding it quite interesting." At this, he shot a sly look at Kate, showing some interest in her. She turned away, wrinkling her nose a little, as she did when annoyed or displeased.

Rick looked a little startled. Clearly he wasn't used to disinterest from members of the opposite sex. Kate felt a slight joy as she saw his surprise, but also a surprising hint of guilt, as she saw the hurt in his eyes. "Oh well," she thought. "It would do his already over-inflated ego some good."


	2. Writer Boy

**Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or any of the Castle characters ****L**

When they reached their homeroom, Castle found himself surrounded by girls. Unfazed by this, he flirted easily, though occasionally paused to glance in Beckett's direction, as if to gauge her reaction, although he found none to speak of. Instead, Beckett was chatting with Lanie about some boy who was apparently 'gorgeous'. He didn't bother to hope that it might be him, but that didn't stop the slight jealousy when he heard the name 'Josh' mentioned. He didn't know the boy of whom they spoke, but he was already pretty sure that he didn't like him. After homeroom, which was decidedly uneventful (although he had got the phone numbers of at least 5 cheerleaders) he had his first class- English. As luck would have it, so too did Kate. As she was sat alone and he knew noone else, he took a seat next to her.

"Hi again," he said, with a hopeful smile, but she was unimpressed.

"Hi," she said, with a slight hint of annoyance. Just her luck to be stuck next to the most egotistical person she had ever met.

Castle decided to ignore her reaction. "I love English," he began. "It's my favourite subject."

Beckett looked at him with a slight hint of surprise. She wouldn't have thought that he would really bother at school- he had a laid back attitude that seemed to imply that he didn't really care about anything educational at all.

"You like English?" she said incredulously.

"Why is that surprising?"

Kate shrugged. "You just don't seem like the scholarly type."

"Oh, trust me, I'm not. I just like writing. I'm good at it you know."

Beckett rolled her eyes. "Narcissistic, aren't you?"

"It's not just me who thinks that my writing is good. My book sold a fair few copies."

Beckett was even more startled. Then the penny dropped. "Oh my God- you're Richard Castle."

Castle nodded. "Yes, we covered that with the introductions," he said slowly, as though speaking to a very young child.

Kate shook her head. "No, i mean, you're THE Richard Castle."

Castle flushed a little. "Shhh," he said, placing a finger lightly over her lips.

She pulled away, trying not to let him know him much his touch had affected her. Once again, she felt as though she were falling into those blue eyes, but she ignored the sensation this time and pulled herself back to the real world.

"Why don't you want anyone to know?" she asked. "I would have thought that you'd love the extra attention."

Rich put his hand on his chest. "Katherine Beckett, I'm wounded that you think so little of me!"

She rolled her eyes. "You haven't really done anything to dispell the image, have you?"

He grinned. "It's my Mom who wants to keep it quiet anyway. Things got kind of crazy at my last school. It's one of the reasons that we moved away from New York actually."

Kate smiled. "Why does that not surprise me?" she wondered aloud.

Rick gave a slight laugh. "What can I say. I make an impact."

"Clearly. I've read it you know. It's really good."

"I know," he said, with a teasing yet infectious grin. "Writing is just one of my many talents."

"What other secret talents do you possess then?" asked Kate, smiling slightly, amused despite herself.

"Well I'm musical..."

"What do you play?" she asked curiously.

"Well, I play a few, but I think that my best is probably..." he paused for suspense."...The triangle. Although I also do a brilliant rendition of Hot Cross Buns on the recorder."

Kate couldn't help herself from laughing out loud.

"Something amusing Miss Beckett?" the teacher asked coldly and she flushed scarlet and shook her head.

"And as for you Mr Castle. It's only your first day. I suggest you wait a little while longer before leading our pupils astray."

Castle nodded demurely, looking scarily angelic, but rolled his eyes at Kate once the teacher's back was turned. She tried not to giggle and instead shot him a glare for getting her into trouble on the first day. They were quiet for the remainder of the lesson.

Beckett's next lesson was with Lanie, who quizzed her about sitting next to Rick.

"Careful Lanie. You're showing a lot of interest in the new boy. Wouldn't want Javi getting jealous!"

Lanie stuck her tongue out at Kate and countered her teasing with "I think it's Josh we need to worry about actually. You and Writer Boy sure seem to have hit it off. First day and he's already corrupting our resident angel!"

Kate shook her head. "He's not my type," she stated. " I like my guys a little less self-centred and I'm really not into players!"

Lanie rolled her eyes. "You have to admit, he is cute."

Kate bit her lip, deliberating her next words. Eventually she said, rather lamely, "He has nice eyes."

"Mmmmm," Lanie agreed, licking her lips.

Kate laughed and slapped her friend's arm lightly. "Seriously Lanes, you are a one guy kind of girl. Stick with Javi. I'd choose him over Narcissus anyday!"

"I'm with Javi," agreed Lanie, "But that doesn't mean that I can't look!"

The lesson dragged on (as Math did so often) but finally lunch came.

The group found their usual table and saw that Castle was looking lost, so beckoned him over.

"Hey," he said, greeting them with a grin that made Beckett's stomach do a strange jump.

"What fiendish plots am I interrupting?"

Lanie grinned. "Just discussing Kate's outfit for tomorrow."

Rick was puzzled. "What's tomorrow?"

The boys rolled their eyes. "It's the football tryouts. Josh is playing, so obviously Kate wants to look her best for him," Esposito explained, ignoring Beckett's glare at sharing such intimate secrets with someone who was practically a stranger.

"Who's Josh?" asked Castle, remembering hearing Kate and Lanie discussing him earlier.

"Josh is, like, _the_ hottest guy in the school!" said Lanie. Esposito raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?" she asked. "He is!"

Rick ignored them and turned to Beckett. "So you have a crush then?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "No! He's just cute is all. And sweet and modest and clever…"

"And a dirtbag!" interrupted Ryan, unusually vehemently in comparison to his generally mild disposition.

"Seriously Kevin!" said Beckett, beginning to loose her temper. "What is your problem with Josh?"

"Nothing!"

"No, spill it!" commanded Beckett, looking pretty annoyed.

Ryan shook his head but spoke, not wanting to face Beckett's wrath. "A couple of years ago, before I was dating her, Jenny was going out with Josh. He cheated on her with at least two other girls."

Beckett looked startled, but shook her head. "People change Ry. You can't judge him on what he did over two years ago. I know you're just trying to protect me, but I can date whoever I want to."

Esposito opened his mouth and closed it again, knowing that nothing he could say would have the intended effect of keeping Kate away from Josh. She was stubborn, always had been, and nothing that he would say was going to change her mind. Lanie lay a calming hand on his arm and he nodded, letting her know that he was going to let the issue be for now.

Castle had been sitting through the entire conversation looking rather bemused. He finally decided that it was safe to speak. "Umm, does anyone have Chemistry next?"

The others all turned to Beckett.

"Yes," she sighed, once again cursing her bad luck.


	3. Too Many Rom-coms

**Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or any of the Castle characters ****L**

The rest of the day passed quickly for Castle, although that was due, at least in part, to Kate. He found that conversation with her was easy, quick and witty, although the teachers for the afternoon had not seemed quite so appreciative of the conversation. Already many of them appeared to have him down as trouble and he knew that that idea would be hard to shift from their minds, despite what subsequent lessons may bring. He found himself walking home with Ryan, as he was heading to visit Jenny, his girlfriend of two years and, as Castle had quickly learned, ex-girlfriend of the infamous Josh. He had yet to meet the guy, but already Castle hated him. Although nervous at breaching what was clearly a touchy subject, Rick couldn't help himself from bringing it up. After all, he had never been one for tact and better to have Ryan angry with him than Beckett, for he was already pretty sure that he would not want to get on the wrong side of her.

"So, what does Beckett see in this Josh guy then?" he asked in what he hoped was a nonchalant tone.

Kevin shrugged. "Who knows? He's one of those jock guys, but clever without being geeky. I suppose he's quite good-looking, but he's a smarmy git."

Castle was surprised. Ryan clearly disliked him a lot more than he had let on around Beckett.

"You really hate him, huh?"

Ryan shook his head sadly. "We used to be quite good friends. Then, when I started dating Jenny, I found out from her what he was really like. He broke her heart and I won't let him do the same to Kate!"

"Tell her that then," said Castle calmly, amazed at how protective the boys were of Beckett. She could clearly take care of herself, yet they appeared to view her almost as a little sister, as though she were more vulnerable than she came across as.

Kevin gave a rueful grin. "You clearly don't know Beckett very well. She's stubborn as a mule and so contrary. If you tell her not to do something then she'll damn well do it just to prove that she can. She's her own worst enemy. She has a self destructive streak a mile wide and sometimes we just have to sit back and watch her deal with the consequences of her decisions."

Castle looked annoyed. "I really think that we should keep her away from Josh..." he began.

"Look Rick, I get that you like her. But you tell her to stay away from Josh and she's going to do exactly the opposite. We just need to step back and see how things pan out. She's never going to like you if you follow her around like a lost puppy, telling her that no other guy is right for her. Leave her be, date a few cheerleaders. If she likes you then she'll work to get you. Kate doesn't give up easily."

Rick nodded. "Thanks Kevin."

They had arrived at his house and he left, leaving Ryan to head onwards to Jenny's.

Castle sat in his room, brainstorming ideas on how to get Beckett's attention. He had the numbers of almost a dozen pretty girls (along with dozens of mediocre ones) but was having trouble deciding which number to call. He was still thinking when Alexis bounded in without knocking and leapt onto the bed beside him.

"Ricky, tell me a story!" she begged, with a beaming (albeit gappy) grin.

Rick shook his head. "Not now Pumpkin. I'm busy."

"What are you doing?" she asked inquisitively.

"I'm making a plan of how to get this girl to like me. I'm going to date a cheerleader to make her jealous. I just don't know which cheerleader to call."

Alexis shook her head in disgust, making her red hair fly around her as though her head were aflame. "That's a dumb idea!" she pouted. "You should buy her flowers or chocolate and then go for a candlelit dinner."

Castle rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because I'm gonna take dating advice from a nine year old. You've been watching too many Rom-coms."

Lexi scowled, her forehead wrinkling. "I'm nearly ten!" she complained. "I'm not a baby."

Rick gave up on his planning and began tickling her. "You're my baby sister," he chuckled, watching her writhe around as she giggled. When he had finished, she sat up and peered over at his list. She moved her finger over it mouthing to herself, before turning to him and jabbing her finger at one of the names.

"Call her!" she commanded.

Castle looked at the list. "Sadie..." he mused. "Sure, she seemed nice enough and fairly sane." He shuddered, remembering his ex-girlfriend Gina, before pushing the painful memories aside and dialling the number.

Beckett met Lanie in the morning and they walked to school together, arriving early. They hadn't been there long when Esposito appeared and before long Lanie's greeting had turned into a makeout session. Just about refraining from rolling her eyes, she pulled a book out of her bag and was soon lost in the story, about an NYPD detective and a ride-along journalist solving gruesome murders. The next thing she knew, Castle was walking into the room, arm around the shoulders of Sadie Martin. She just about kept herself from gaping, particularly when he kissed her sweetly on the lips before walking over to join the three of them. She supposed that every cloud had a silver lining- at least Lanie and Esposito had removed their tongues from one another's mouths.

"New friend?" she asked Rick coldly.

"Oh, you mean Sadie," she said with a dashing grin. "Yeah, we got chatting last night and we just connected. She's so sweet."

Beckett just nodded, surprised by her sudden hatred of Sadie. Sweet was not the word she would have chosen to describe her- not now anyway!

"You all set for your date with Josh?"

Kate glared at him. "It is _not_ a date."

Castle just nodded, smiling appeasingly, which infuriated her all the more.

"Anyway," began Castle. "I was thinking of trying out for the football team."

Beckett snorted derisively. "Really?" she asked, as though she didn't believe him.

"Why not?" he smiled sweetly. "I used to be on the team at my old school. Let's see how Josh handles a bit of competition."

Kate raised her eyebrows. "No offence Rick," she said angelically, "But I think that Josh may be a little out of your league."

The lessons passed slowly and breaks all too fast, but finally school was over and it was time for the tryouts.

Kate sat on the bleachers beside Lanie- Kevin had headed home, not being the football type and Javier was already on the pitch- waving at Josh when he appeared. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sadie kiss Castle and wish him luck, but tried to ignore her sudden anger.

Lanie elbowed her sharply in the side. "Cut it out Becks!" she said.

"What?" asked Beckett, annoyed.

Lanie rolled her eyes. "You're glaring daggers at Sadie. If looks could kill she'd be on a slab in a morgue by now.""I'm not glaring!" snapped Beckett, unable to truly deny it. Lanie shook her head in despair at her friend.

"It's obvious you like him Kate."

"I don't like him. I think he is an egotistical jerk with the emotional maturity of a six year old who needs to get over himself."

"Yes," agreed Lanie calmly. "But you think that he's a cute egotistical jerk."

Beckett rolled her eyes, but had no time to deny it, as the tryouts began. Everything went smoothly for a while, before Rick and Josh clearly got a little competative. The two were constantly barging into one another and it was clearly only a matter of time before someone got hurt. Rick's elbow whacked into Josh as they ran and there was a sudden scarlet flash of blood.

"Oh my God, what has he done?" said Kate, scrambling down to the pitch, where Josh was attempting to stem the flow of blood from his likely broken nose. She turned to Rick and glared at him.

"What is your problem?" she snapped and he winced, as though her words had the power to hurt him.

"God Kate, it was an accident," he said feebly.

"Sure," said Kate sarcastically, before turning back to Josh.

"Are you alright?" she asked sympathetically, taking the cold compress that another player had just brought for him and placing it gentle against his nose.

"I'm fine," Josh said. "Rick's right, it was just an accident. We just got a little competitive. Happens all the time. Hell, it's happened to me twice before and it could just have easily been Rick here with a fountain of blood spurting out of his nose."

Kate smiled at him. "That's a really sweet and mature outlook Josh," she said. Rick rolled his eyes.

"Do you want me to come to the hospital with you."

"It's fine Kate. Can I have your number though? So that I can call you and give you the prognosis."

Rick was finding it very hard to keep a straight face, although with Kate already on the warpath he knew that laughing would be fatal. Honestly, it was as though Josh were dying. At the most, it was a tiny fracture that would heal within a few weeks. Overreaction much?

Katherine Beckett sat in her room, trying to pretend that she was doing something other than sitting waiting for Josh to call. When the phone rang she pounce on it eagerly.

"Hello?" she said, smiling to herself.

"Hey," replied an all to familiar voice.

"Oh, it's you Lanie."

Beckett could almost see her friend rolling her eyes. "Try that again with a little less disappointment," her friend answered. "Who were you expecting?"

Kate flushed, glad that Lanie couldn't see her. "No-one..."

"Liar- you were sitting waiting for Josh weren't you?"

Kate sighed reluctantly. "Kind of..." she said secretly.

Lanie tutted sympathetically. "Still hasn't called, huh?"

Beckett shook her head, before remembering that her friend couldn't see her. "No," she said in disappointment.

"The x-rays are probably just taking a while. I'm sure that he'll call as soon as he can."

"I know. I just can't believe that Castle did that."

"I'm pretty sure that it was an accident Kate. Anyway, it was as much Josh as him. They just got a little competitive"

"Not that! I meant hook-up with Sadie Martin. I mean, _What?_ She's not even that pretty!"

"Jealous?"

"No!" huffed Kate hotly. "It's just... _Sadie Martin_? Honestly, it's like he just did eenie meenie and picked a random cheerleader."

"She is quite sweet," said Lanie calmly.

Beckett rolled her eyes. "She has the IQ of a squirrel and a personality to match."

Lanie laughed. "Be nice," she chided. Just then, Lanie's doorbell rang."Sorry Becks,I gotta go. Javi's here."

Kate smiled, a little envious of her friend's relationship, but happy for her all the same. "Have fun," she replied, before once again surrendering to the agonising wait beside the phone.

It was almost 10 when Josh finally called. "What took you so long?" she asked.

"X-rays went on forever."

"How is your nose?" she asked worriedly.

"Not broken, luckily. Just bruised and a little swollen."

Kate let out a slight sigh of relief. "Not scarred for life then?" she asked lightly."

"Nah, I heal fast. Hey Kate, I was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie with me tomorrow? There are some good films on, I checked."

Kate smiled to herself. "Like, on a date?" she asked hopefully.

"Sure," he replied.

"Sure," she echoed. "Sounds good. Meet there at 8?"

"Great," he smiled. "See you tomorrow."


	4. Patience is a Virtue

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Castle. Still hoping.**

It was seven o'clock the next night and Beckett was getting ready, having enlisted Lanie's help.

"What should I wear?" she queried, visibly nervous. She was pulling outfits out of her wardrobe, yet so far none had met Lanie's approval.

Lanie moved her out of the way and took over, rummaging through the rows of clothes. "We want something cute but casual. I'm thinking skinny jeans and... this top." She held up a long sleeved white and navy blue striped top with the word 'Love' written on it in red sequins. Kate looked at it in slight surprise.

"I forgot that I even bought that," she said. Lanie rolled her eyes, amazed that her friend could forget about something as important as a cute top, yet always remember schoolwork.

The two girls then set about curling Beckett's hair into loose curls and applying subtle makeup. By the time Esposito arrived to collect Lanie at 7:30, they were done.

He entered and greeted Lanie with a sweet kiss, before turning to Kate.

"You scrub up alright Beckett," he said. "Nice top."

She grinned. "I'd let you borrow it Espo, but you kind of stretched out the last one!"

Lanie laughed, before hugging her friend. "Good luck," she said and Kate nodded, smiling, before kissing her parents goodbye and heading towards the cinema.

She arrived at ten to 8 and stood there in the slight cold, wishing that she had thought to bring a jacket. When 8 o'clock arrived, Josh still hadn't, but Castle headed past her, with his arm around Sadie who, she noticed begrudgingly, had at least had the intelligence to bring a coat.

"Hey Kate," Castle greeted her, moving his arm from around Sadie. He turned to his girlfriend and, handing her the tickets that he had clearly preordered, asked "Do you want to go and find our seats?" She nodded obediently and kissed his cheek before heading inside.

Kate raised an eyebrow at him. "You've got her well trained," she commented, but Rick ignored it.

"You waiting for Josh?" he asked and she nodded glumly.

He made a sympathetic face. "You look cold. Did you bring a jacket?"

Biting her lip, Beckett shook her head, cursing herself for her stupidity.

"Here," he said, placing his coat around her shoulders. Naturally, she protested.

"No Castle, what about you?"

"I'm not the one waiting outside for my date. Anyway, I reckon I owe you for almost breaking your boyfriend's nose."

Beckett gave a slight smile. She couldn't argue with his logic and besides, though it would have killed her to admit it, she didn't really want to give his coat back to him. It was extremely cosy and warm, with his body heat still lingering on it.

Castle looked up and his face darkened. "Speak of the devil..." he muttered and Beckett looked up to see Josh (only 10 minutes late) heading towards them.

"Anyway," said Rick, "I should head back inside. Sadie will be wondering where I am. At least I've done my good deed for the day. Have fun on your date."

"And you..."

She turned away from him to face Josh.

"Hey Babe," he greeted her. "What was Castle doing?"

Kate smiled slightly. "Just waiting with me. He's here with Sadie."

"Is that his jacket?"

Beckett shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah, I was cold, so he leant it to me. Wasn't that nice?"

"Mmmm," agreed Josh, looking as though he thought it anything but.

"You're late," chided Beckett teasingly.

"Oh, yeah," said Josh absently. "I forgot."

Kate raised her eyebrows, clearly annoyed, but he didn't notice. "Do you want to head in then?"

"Sure," Kate nodded and noticing how cold her voice sounded, reminded herself that he probably had a lot on his mind, vowing to be nicer to him, particularly given his current injury. After all, she was on a date with _THE_ hottest guy in the school- so what if he was a little forgetful? Everyone has flaws and he had significantly fewer than some other people she knew. She followed him in without further complaint, resolving to have a good time.

Of course, it would so happen that their seats were next to Sadie and Castle. Kate found herself wondering why they had even bothered going to the cinema- they were clearly more interested in each other than the film. Pushing aside the envy that began to wash over her slightly, she attempted to focus on the film, hoping that soon they would have to come up for air. The film had been Josh's choice and before long she was bored and slightly sleepy. Leaning sideways, she rest her head on Josh's shoulder. He pushed her off. "I'm trying to watch this Kate," he told her and she rolled her eyes. So far it wasn't exactly turning out to be her dream date.

As they walked home they began to discuss the film. "What did you think?" Josh asked her. "Good choice?"

Kate nodded. "Sure," she replied politely. "The plot was really interesting, but I'm not too sure about the script. The main character's grammar was terrible!"

Josh looked puzzled. "I don't think his grandparents were in it. Maybe it's his mother that you mean?"

Kate struggled to refrain from rolling her eyes. As much as she hated to think it, at least Castle would have understod what she meant. In fact, if she were completely honest with herself- which she usually was- the minutes spent with him whilst waiting for Josh had probably been the best part of her night.

When they arrived at her house, she smiled at him.

"Isn't this the part where you kiss me good-night?" she asked coyly. Josh bent down and kissed her. It was not romantic or sweet. His lips were too wet and his tongue was probing and slimy. Repulsed and trying not to shudder, she pulled away.

"Night," she said and practically fled inside. Lanie was waiting for her, as they had planned a sleepover to discuss the date.

When she got in Lanie let out a squeal. "OMG, I saw you two getting lippy outside. Is that his jacket? Aww, that's so romantic!"

Beckett grimaced. "Not exactly..." Lanie raised an eyebrow expectantly and Kate flushed slightly. "It's Castle's."

Lanie gaped at her. "You went on a date with Josh and brought Castle's jacket home?"

"Josh was late and I was cold. Then Castle showed up with Barbie girl and he waited with me."

"What did Sadie think about that?"

"She went and found their seats. She wasn't there when he gave me the jacket. Anyway, they seemed perfectly happy kissing throughout the whole film. Whereas Josh wouldn't even let me rest my head on his shoulder!"

Lanie tutted sympatheticallty. "And to top it all of Josh is like, the World's worst kisser. It was like making out with a snail! I mean, he doesn't even know what grammar is!"

Lanie gave a sympathetic smile. "There must have been one bit that you enjoyed?"

Kate huffed. "Yes- waiting with Rick! I went on a date with Josh and Castle was the best bit!"

By now she was close to tears. Lanie looked at her. "You like him, don't you?"

Kate glared. "Not anymore- that's the point!"

Lanie shook her head in disgust. "I don't mean Josh, I mean writer boy."

Kate scowled petulantly. "No. Maybe..." Finally she sighed glumly. "Yes." She buried her face in her pillow.

"What am I gonna do?"

"Tell him how you feel?" suggested Lanie, infuriatingly calm and sensible.

"I can't. He's dating Sadie."

"He doesn't like her really."

"It doesn't matter!" snapped Beckett. "The fact is, she's there. Maybe I should give Josh a second chance..." she mused.

"No!" Lanie practically yelled. "Honestly Becks, don't you learn from your mistakes? Just stay away from Josh. The boys were right. You can do so much better."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Even Josh is better than being alone. Kinda..."

Lanie glared at her friend. "You won't be alone. Castle totally likes you. You just have to wait until this Sadie thing blows over- so give it like a week, just so he's totally past her- and then go get him."

Kate grinned. "Maybe I should date Josh to make him jealous."

Lanie shook her head furiously. "No, no, no. We are not going for the jealousy card. That will just backfire."

"Why?" pouted Beckett. "It's working for him!"

"No way! That just leads to confusion. One of you is always trying to make the other one jealous and you're never single at the same time, because you're both always dating random people who mean nothing to you and you never end up together. Trust me. That might work in films, but this is reality."

Kate scowled slightly. "Reality sucks!"

Lanie grinned. "Preaching to the choir."

"I just wish that I could have what you and Espo and Jenny and Ryan have. You seem to have it all sussed out."

Lanie rolled her eyes. "Please. We argue practically everyday."

"Yeah, but even your arguments are irritatingly adorable. I don't even get cute arguments."

"You will. Patience is a virtue you know."


End file.
